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This is not a new program, I’ve seen it come across on a number blogs (especially for this year’s summer reading theme), but we heard about it from another local library and thought it was a fantastic idea! We gathered up old household appliances, old computers, and a couple things that we found here in the library that has been sitting is storage for a long time. We asked that families bring some screwdrivers and other tools with them, but we also made sure to have a supply of tools for the kids to use as well. We offered a two-hour window for kids to come in and spend as long as they wanted taking things apart – most stayed at least an hour.

We ended up with about 25 kids ranging in ages from grades 3 – 8 who were so excited to take things apart. Some were technology buffs, who knew what parts of computers did what things and others were just ecstatic to get the opportunity to get their hands dirty and find out what was inside some of our old computers and household appliances. It was great to see groups of kids working together, some working individually, some jumped around to different projects, while others stuck with one project the entire afternoon. I was especially excited to see a number of girls getting involved and really enjoying themselves. I think learning how basic tools work is a really great thing for boys and girls alike! We were surprised that we didn’t have more kids, because the parents who came were so excited and happy that we offered this program. And I know, some of the kids aren’t necessarily big readers, but if we can pull them into the library with a fun program, that’s the first step. We had a book display up with books about how things work and although the kids were so focused on taking things apart they didn’t check out too many books.

I think the best part is that we’re going to use all the parts we took apart to create our own artistic robots in a few weeks. Although we’re not making mechanical robots, we will be using our take apart pieces as well as recyclables to create our very own robot/monsters, which should also be a lot of fun!